August 1998

By Michael M. Miller

The Germans from Russia Heritage Collection at the NDSU Libraries
in Fargo reaches out to prairie families and former Dakotans. In
various ways, it affirms the heritage of the Germans from Russia
as an important part of the northern plains culture.

What a wonderful experience it was to join the community of Wishek,
ND with friends and family for their successful centennial days.
On July 4th, the Centennial Parade attracted one of the largest
gatherings in south-central North Dakota with an estimated 15,000
people. There were almost 2,000 participants completing 400 parade
entries. Many of those attending the centennial events were sons
and daughters of Germans from Russia, who immigrated to the Wishek
prairies and coteau over a century ago.

The NDSU Libraries participated in centennial events at the Heritage
Exhibits. We were impressed and appreciative of the visitor response.
The visual displays of historic clothing, textiles, and artifacts
was impressive. The Heritage Exhibits provided an important aspect
to the Wishek Centennial, which other Dakota communities will want
to consider.

We experienced many persons desiring more about their German-Russian
ancestry. Frequently, we would hear: "If only I had asked more of
my parents or grandparents!" Children brought their parents, aunts
and uncles to see the exhibits. They were anxious to see and experience
what life was like years past in historic Wishek. Much of this history
appears in the Wishek Centennial 1898 - 1998 book, now out-of-print
and being considered for re-publication. I was pleased to meet Wishek's
historian, Roxanne Sayler Henke. KSJB Radio, Jamestown, ND, broadcast
during June historic snapshots and glimpses of Wishek's heritage
prepared and narrated by Roxanne Henke.

I would recall these family names: Kaseman, Heupel, Schauer, Boschee,
Raile, Martell, Schlecht, Babitzke, Heff, Wiest, Vossler, Bettenhausen,
Krein, Benkendorf, Deile, and Rudolf - all significant names in
the history of Wishek. During May, we had visited the former Bessarabian
and Black Sea German villages in southern Ukraine and Moldova near
Odessa, where the parents and grandparents once lived before immigrating
to the Wishek area. I would hear these people mention Bergdorf,
Friedenstal, Hoffnungstal, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf, Rohrbach
and Worms of the Black Sea villages, and also Beresina, Borodino,
Brienne, Kulm, Klöstitz, Leipzig and Teplitz of the Bessarabian
villages.

It was a thrill to see authentic historic clothing displays. Florence
Geiszler Wiest, Clifton Kaseman and Jodi Haupt Weszner shared their
family treasures, including wedding dresses and traditional clothing
brought from South Russia. In recent months, the NDSU Libraries
have added historical textiles and clothing of Dakota-pioneering
German-Russian families. These culturally significant items are
housed in the Emily P. Reynolds Costume Collection on the NDSU campus.

One of the more impressive displays at the Wishek Centennial was
a wooden model of rural St. Andrew's Lutheran Church (near Zeeland)
in McIntosh County, ND. Herman Thurn began building this model through
the summer of 1997. This impressively detailed model includes both
the original church built in 1892 and the larger church built in
1906. Herman's Aipperspach and Thurn relatives settled on a farmstead
near this church, having immigrated from Bergdorf and Kassel in
South Russia. St. Andrew's Church is still used today with a wedding
held there on July 4th, 1998. This country church has been important
to the religious life of many German-Russian families in McIntosh
County, ND. Our appreciation and gratitude to Herman Thurn of Wishek
for his fine craftsmanship to prepare this beautiful country church
model as a powerful remembrance for future generations.

During the Wishek Centennial, Prairie Public Television announced
the forthcoming Germans from Russia video documentary, to be available
in early 1999. PPTV and the NDSU Libraries in Fargo are collaborating
on a groundbreaking one-hour documentary which highlights the Germans
from Russia. The documentary will explore the history and culture
of this unique ethnic group. The program will premiere on PPTV in
February of 1999. Interested persons can order this videotape copy
now. The limited-edition version is available to those who order
their request before January 1, 1999 and will contain special footage
not seen in the general documentary. Call PPTV at 1-800-359-6900
for further information about the videotape.

Hats off to the Wishek Centennial Committee and all those involved
with great success the community experienced in July to celebrate
100 years of their history. We also saw parade floats announcing
centennial days of July 2-4, 1999 for two other communities with
many German-Russian families: Linton and Medina, ND.